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Balen Craster
|Row 3 title = Age |Row 3 info = 93 at death (D.O.B. January 1st, 55 P.C.) |Row 4 title = Birthplace |Row 4 info = Dunstanburgh Citadel |Row 5 title = Residence |Row 5 info = Dustanburgh Citadel |Row 6 title = Relatives |Row 6 info = Martyn Craster IV, Father † Celise Malmont, Mother † *Teric Craster I, Brother † **Emeric Craster II, Nephew † *Nelda Kraine (née Craster), Sister † **Elmar Kraine III, Nephew **Caric Kraine I, Nephew **Imogen Talbot (née Kraine), Niece |Row 7 title = Marital Status |Row 7 info = Unmarried |Row 8 title = Occupation |Row 8 info = Soldier Nobleman |Row 9 title = Titles |Row 9 info = Head of House Craster Duke of Avorraine Earl of Holinford Earl of Avondale Earl of Wickhamshire Knight-Champion |Row 10 title = Status |Row 10 info = }} * |Row 2 title = Branch |Row 2 info = |Row 3 title = Term of Service |Row 3 info = 39 P.C. - 21 L.C. |Row 4 title = Rank |Row 4 info = |Row 5 title = Unit |Row 5 info = |Row 6 title = Battles/Wars |Row 6 info = First War Second War |Row 7 title = |Row 7 info = }} Lord Balen M. Craster XI was the Duke of Avorraine and head of the extinct House of Craster; these titles marked him as one of the kingdom's wealthiest and most influential men in life. Throughout his 60 year reign as Duke of Avorraine, Balen was touted as a terrible ruler, using his power and influence for personal gain and ruling the peasantry as a vicious taskmaster. With sickness and old age claiming his body, his lordships were disputed between his nephews Lord Elmar Kraine III and Sir Emeric Craster II, who held a fierce blood feud since childhood. The pair's parents were twins, and thus the matter of inheritance was always disputed between the two sections of the family. This culminated in the Kraine-Craster Conflict, a short civil war between House Kraine and House Craster, with the few battles fought beyond the eyes of the law. Elmar was triumphant at the war's end, defeating and slaying his counterpart in single combat and claiming the title of Duke of Avorraine for House Kraine. Rumor has it that Balen had been slowly poisoned over the last year of his life; his ailments had began at the time and before such he was very fit for an elderly gentleman. His rule had also become much more benevolent over this time as well, pointing to the fact that another may have been ruling in his stead. Benefactors of House Kraine point to those of House Craster when questioned on this issue and vice versa. The unknown truth however is that some of the lesser lords of Avorraine along with Balen's servants conspired together against the oppressive ruler, calling themselves the Caretakers of Avorraine, and indeed placing a slow acting poison within his daily medicines. They then pulled the strings in the Kraine-Caster Conflict to have a favourable outcome by providing Kraine's milita with intelligence on the Crasters' movements and tactics, and assassinating some of the key figures of their command chain early in the war. Sir Emeric's qualities of cruelty and affluent spending were too much like his uncle's while Lord Elmar was a fair and proven ruler and thus he was the obvious intelligent choice to support for the secret society. The Caretakers of Avorraine continue to be in existence, an underground society with ties to House Kraine, with the wellbeing of Avorraine's citizens in mind. Appearance He was once a tall man of exceptional good looks and athletic capability. A well-muscled build matched his great height, and in his younger years he had been a knight of great renown. With age, however, Balen became a frail, paper-thin man of pallid complexion and wrinkled skin, then bed ridden and unresponsive with a terrible sickness at the venerable age of 92. As a young man he stood at 6'5" when drawn to full height and, as a testament to his great stature, he still stood to 6'2" when hunched before his sickness claimed the use of his legs. Category:Characters Category:Human